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Rather than paying a disposal fee when getting new tires, recycle your old tires to make landscape decorations, either useful or whimsical. From tractors and big trucks to family vehicles and even lawn equipment and recreational ATVs, tires of many sizes can create a variety of decorative outdoor embellishments.

1

Create a caterpillar from three car tires. Cut each tire in half with a jigsaw to create half circles. Dig shallow holes at the edge of a flower garden to set the cut ends of the tires inside. Place the tires close together to form a continuous bumpy shape like a caterpillar, keeping the round humps facing upward. Paint each section of the caterpillar in bright colors, either solid or a patterned design. Paint a face on one end of the line of tires. Make separate creatures from half tires to place in or around you garden or yard. Consider farm or jungle animals, comical fish, bugs, or fantasy critters.

2

Use any size tire to create one or more flower planters. Paint a bright flower garden design or other desired pattern onto a tire. Place the tire where you want, fill it about halfway with soil, and plant seeds or flowers inside. Create a flower planter to surround a telephone pole or mailbox post. Use a jigsaw to cut a single line through the tire. Paint the tire as you wish. Pull the tire a few inches apart at the cut seam, and work the tire around the post. Center the tire around the post. Fill the empty space between the post and the tire with soil, and plant flowers in the soil.

3

Make a decorative play center for the kids that also brightens up the yard. Paint different sizes of tires, or let the kids help you create the colorful designs. Arrange the painted tires on a bed of sand. Fill a tractor tire with sand for sifting and building. Put river rock inside a car tire so the kids can explore the different kinds of rocks, and also make roads, hills and valleys. Use another painted tire to store sand pails, shovels, trucks and other playthings. Place smaller tires around the play center, and fill with soil to plant grass and flowers for the kids to play with as well.

About the Author

Larry Davis has worked in the safety and environmental field since 1975, writing for "Chevron Review" and other professional magazines. He wrote monthly columns for "Heavy Equipment News" and has written safety programs and training materials. He holds two bachelor's degrees, a master's degree in safety and earned his doctorate in safety engineering, studying under professors from the University of Iowa and Texas A&M University.